EUGENE – Competing in his first U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Olympic Trials, University of South Florida senior Jared Thomas posted his third best discus mark of the season (190-2) to finish 15th in the preliminary round of the event, Monday afternoon in Eugene.

Thomas, the USF school record holder in the discus, was seeded 18th heading into the event and posted his best throw on his third attempt to improve his mark by almost 30 feet and finish 15th. He just missed advancing to the finals by nine feet, as the top 12 move on to the next round.

“Jared had a really great experience today. To finish three spots higher than he was seeded is a great confidence boost and he now knows he can compete with these guys,” said USF throws coach Toby Colyer. “He finished 15th in the country and can definitely use this experience next week at the U-23 meet and in the future. We’re very proud of him.”

Like Colyer said, the senior’s experience at the Trials will prove to be valuable when he heads to NACAC U-23 Championships, July 6-9 in Guanajuato, Mexico to represent to the United States of America.

Thomas recently capped off his senior season with one of the best performances in the country in the discus at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championship. The Pensacola native earned first-team All-American status earlier this month with a fifth place finish that was seven places ahead of what he accomplished last season at NCAA outdoors. The Pensacola native's throw of 194-5 (59.25m) earned him the honor after he broke a school record with a throw of 201-0 (61.26m) during the regular season.